DeMarcus Cousins has said he considers it a “compliment” when opponents try to irritate him or get “into my head” as a way to slow him down.

In the next three games, the Kings center can expect to get figurative pats on the back.

The Kings host the Los Angeles Clippers tonight, followed by games against the Warriors on Sunday and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday at Sleep Train Arena.

Each team features players who have done all they can to play mind games with Cousins and take advantage of his emotions. Sometimes, that means trying to bait Cousins into technical fouls or frustrating him to the point that he begins committing personal fouls.

Regardless, the coaching staff keeps an eye on the situation to make sure fouls, technical or otherwise, don’t become a problem, as they’ve been in recent seasons. This season, Cousins has four technical fouls, tied with Golden State’s Andrew Bogut, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Houston’s Dwight Howard for most in the NBA.

A technical foul called against Cousins in a Nov. 13 blowout win over the Brooklyn Nets was not rescinded, as he expected. Cousins picked up two more technicals in Los Angeles last weekend. The first came Saturday against the Clippers and the second Sunday against the Lakers – both losses.

“It’s a constant conversation,” Kings coach Michael Malone said. “I told him after that one (against the Lakers) in the huddle, ‘Let’s maintain our poise and composure and not let anything take us out of being poised right now.’”